I bought a “gently used” Tenkara USA Ayu rod earlier this week. It’s a 13′ model that should compliment my 11′ Iwana model nicely.
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| Tenkara USA Ayu Image courtesy Tenkara USA |
The Iwana is perfect for a lot of the creeks I fish that are either bushy or have a short canopy, but it’s simply undersized when it comes to larger water, either moving or still. With 2 extra feet on the rod, that should probably translate to a minimum of an extra 4 to 6 feet of reach. I’m also intrigued by the soft 5:5 action; fishing is relaxation to me, so the slower casting motion required should be refreshing.
Okay Mr. McFeely…time for a “Speedy Delivery!“
This may be a dumb question but are you fishing for trout with these long rod? I just went to their website and all the rods I saw was 11, 12 or 13 ft. I notice on the handles no place for the reel, at least I didn't see a place.
wow! 13 feet? youll be fishing from home before too long. So you use the Tenkara rod but with a reel and you are addapting the french czech method to that rod. is that right? Another question I had was.. Are you left handed?
@ Bill – Yes, I go after trout with these rods. There is no reel, it's a fixed line. The best way I can describe it is that it's sort of like “pole fishing” but with a very limber rod and you cast flies. Probably not the best description, but a short one since this I don't want to ramble in the comments section. If you have time, go back to the Tenkara USA website, they have some really good videos showing people doing it.@ Big – No reel. Fixed line. I use nymphs a lot, but tenkara is pretty versatile – I can also fish dries, wets, and streamers too. Instead of stripping line, you simply jerk the rod tip to impart motion. It's a setup made for smaller water. A lot of the creeks I fish are no more than 20 feet wide so you can easily reach bank to bank with one of these. These rods are tough though, there are folks taking on peacock bass with them over in the Tenkara USA forum.No, I'm a righty. You're probably asking because of the way my reel is configured in the rod rack pic? Honestly, that's a cheap reel I bought off eBay to go goofing around with. Upon disassembling to switch “hands” I found out you really couldn't. Not a big deal. My real reel is that Konic in the header of this blog. I prefer reeling with my left hand.
You're just a “Gear Junky” – admit it!(Said the pot to the kettle)Wolfy
@ Wolfy – Without a doubt, I am a gear junkie. Nothing to admit.
Now that is something I really want to try, Tenkara rods. Tomorrow I'm going to a Speyclave, so perhaps I really am broadening my fly fishing horizons and Tenkara is on the list ~ Very cool